Warning: This article contains spoilers for episode eight of 'Top Chef' season 16.

It's a battle between the cool kids and the nerds on episode eight of "Top Chef" Kentucky.

The lines are drawn in the chefs' stew room, where the nine remaining contestants are still reeling from their terrible, horrible, no good, very bad beef challenge.

Host Padma Lakshmi is there to cut the chefs a break. They won't be competing in the usual quickfire, and they'll get to travel to Lake Cumberland to party on two houseboats.

Well, cook, clean, decorate and party, that is.

The chefs will be split into teams, and with an odd number of contestants left, one group will get an extra set of hands. This could be an advantage — or it couldn't based on who's making the decision.

Of course, the choice gets left to the show's resident nervous Nelly, Eddie Konrad, the winner of the disastrous beef challenge.

The groups begin planning their menus, and Kelsey's team immediately decides they want to have the most fun. They're going for a seafood theme, and they plan to give out party favors and Jello shots.

Eddie's team, meanwhile, is taking the challenge very seriously. They're all much more reserved than the fun bunch, and there will be no Jello shots — just a second chance for wannabe-butcher Brian to prove he knows meat.

The teams get $1,500 and 30 minutes to shop at Whole Foods before jumping in their cars to drive to Lake Cumberland, the houseboat capital of the world.

"Kentucky has more shoreline than the entire state of Florida," Sara says. "Lake Cumberland is dope."

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At the lake, the chefs are shown to their two houseboats, where they're greeted by "Below Deck's" Lee Rosbach and Sandy Yawn.

The boats don't have a lot of counter space, and the kitchen as a whole is pretty small. But the chefs have 15 hours to prepare their dishes and decorate the boat. Surely they can get everything done.

(Nope.)

The green team with Kelsey, Justin, Eric and Sara gets off to a rockin' start, flying through their prep and sharing ingredients to make a cohesive menu. Kelsey tackles the party favors, whipping up a mix of "puppy chow" that's flavored with key lime, coconut and banana, while Sara makes the "jiggle juice" — shots of Maker's Mark with peach mint tea and gelatin.

The blue team, however, faces some immediate catastrophes. Their boat's generator goes out, leaving them without power to the stove. And Adrienne, who's been feeling sick since the car ride, ducks out to lie down.

The chefs make do with some induction burners and a convection oven until the generator is fixed, and Brian is able to start roasting his pork loin by 1 a.m. But by mid-morning, Adrienne is still under the weather and doesn't think she'll be able to serve. Eddie offers to present both her dish and his, and the team gets ready to start greeting guests.

On the green boat, the chefs walk around with their party favors and Jello shots, hyping the crowd to vote in their favor.

Brian is nervous that the green team's kegger-style tactics will work, and he ups the blue team's ante by serving his dish from the boat's hot tub — fully clothed, sneakers and all.

The judges arrive and split into groups of three, with Padma, Captain Sandy and chef Emeril Lagasse visiting one boat while head judge Tom Colicchio, Nilou Motamed and Captain Lee head to the other.

Mid-party, it's time for the green team to have power issues, and Eric's fryer is on the fritz. He needs the appliance to cook his beer-battered walleye on deck, but after struggling to get it to work, he heads downstairs to finish his dish in the kitchen.

The judges sample the nine chefs' dishes, finding something positive to say about each. But they're unimpressed with the blue team's boring presentation, and Padma really doesn't like the green team's "jiggle juice" — handing her glass back to Sara with a look of utter detest on her face.

At judge's table, the green team is the clear winner with 79 of 100 votes.

"You guys cooked what you wanted to do from your heart," Emeril tells the whole group, in a complete reverse of Tom's criticism from the previous challenge.

The shining stars of the night were Kelsey's Alabama oysters and Eric's walleye, which remained hot despite the fryer failures.

But Kelsey's "puppy chow" gave her the edge and the challenge's overall victory.

"I threw a party, which I do for a living, and I represented my state with an Alabama oyster," Kelsey says. "I won for literally being myself. I couldn't ask for anything better at this point, I really couldn't. Besides for winning 'Top Chef.'"

On the blue team, Eddie "kind of wants to jump into one of the boat propellers." But his presentation of Adrienne's shrimp tacos saves him from going home for his poached shrimp on a stick.

'Top Chef' Season 16 contestants

Bravo's "Top Chef" Kentucky features 15 new chefs — including one from Kentucky. Sara Bradley, the chef-owner of Freight House in Paducah, is joined by chefs from across the nation who will compete for a $125,000 prize.